


Eventually the pieces will fall into place

by Strawmari



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Mild Smut, Organized Crime, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:47:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22961929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawmari/pseuds/Strawmari
Summary: Right after "picking up the pieces".Beth makes the decision to stop by Rio's, while he learns what goes on at Paper Porcupine.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 4
Kudos: 97





	Eventually the pieces will fall into place

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments on picking up the pieces, it meant so much and gave me the kick I needed to get writing again.
> 
> I had this saved in my WIP folder as a continuation and figured why not share before Sunday? All the Brio goodness that looks to be coming our way, eek can't wait! 
> 
> I don't own any characters/show and any similarities are coincidental. I hope you enjoy!! :)

Beth woke before the alarm. She set it for seven in the morning, probably because she wanted to leave before Dean got around. He knew that she was meeting with a friend, and yes, he still hated the use of that word. Beth couldn't tell him about Rio, it would start another argument and she didn't want the kids to think they were separating again, not that they were back together. The decision to both live in the house was strictly financial, but Beth wasn't entirely sure the children understood that.

It wouldn't kill Dean to watch the kids for a couple hours.

Peeking out the window, she saw a black car in her driveway. Rio was leaning against it like he had been waiting for her. Beth was supposed to meet him at his place, she wasn't sure why, he just asked her too. A brief flash of fear came over her, had he woken up and decided to kill her after all? Demon even told her that she crossed Rio too many times and he had killed for far less.

Right, Beth forgot that Rio was a murderer, she had been too up until seventy two hours ago. There was no way he wasn't responsible for the warehouse ambush, he was smart enough to orchestrate it. Beth truly believed he wanted to give Marcus the best life he could, that's what made them so similar. 

"What are you doing here?" She hissed, stopping short of the front bumper. 

"Let's go for a drive, get some air".

Beth suspiciously took another step forward, not taking her eyes off him, "why?".

"Get in the car, Elizabeth".

_____________________________________

Beth waited for him to grab his gun from the center console or maybe crash the car into a ditch, there was no telling how he would do it, it was more of a matter when.

They drove for roughly thirty minutes, the skyscrapers turned into corn fields and before she knew it, they were at his house. Rio must've wanted to take the scenic route, not that it put Beth's mind at ease. So he wasn't going to kill her today, there were still hundreds of days left in the year for him to change his mind. 

Rio got out first, closing the door gently behind him. He tapped on the window, "you stayin in there, mama?".

No, of course not. Beth exited the car, making her way up the sidewalk, the best her trembling legs would let her. Crime didn't scare her anymore. She knew a full clip added a pound and she's had more guns pointed at her than she could count, but there was something about Rio that put her off kelter. It was a mix of nerves and excitement, it sent an unfamiliar feeling throughout her body. Beth didn't know if she wanted to run, or if she wanted to pull him into a kiss and that's what terrified her.

When she told the girls that she shot Rio three times, their reaction was relief, they no longer were under his control. Ruby did feel bad, she knew Beth had some sort of feelings for him, something that went beyond work and it was blatantly obvious in the cloud9 parking lot. Beth got jealous, she know admitted it, but that wasn't the only reason she stole the pills. She was his partner and all she asked was to be treated that way.

It was weird being in his house without their kids, just the day before they were building model airplanes in the living room. She took a breath, following him deeper into the house. 

He poured her a glass of bourbon, which she knew he picked up just for her, it wasn't his poison. "Turner said some crap about you goin legit".

"I work part time at the paper porcupine".

"That's it?".

Beth let it slip, telling him that they made the cash out of the backroom. She had been promoted to manager, which meant she was in charge of lock up every night and little old Dorothy had no idea they used the printing press after hours. Beth wasn't sure why she told Rio, they didn't need his help. It was either the guilt eating at her, or she actually missed working with him, whatever the case may be, Ruby and Annie were not going to be pleased.

They already believed that she had a death wish for meeting up with him alone. She didn't think twice about it, their lives were intertwined and she honestly wasn't even sure he knew Ruby and Annie's names.

__________________________________

Beth opened her eyes, trying to focus on the alarm clock, it read six thirty and she overslept. She's never overslept. That was actually something she and Rhea bonded over, the lack of sleep that came with having a child. Rhea thought Beth was an expert, with four kids there was no way she hadn't picked up some tips and tricks. What Beth didn't tell her, was sometimes Dean acted like a fifth child and that was emotionally draining.

Then she felt the warm arm around her waist, the light from the window giving her just enough to make out the bracelet on the man's wrist. 

"Oh, no, no".

Now that she was looking around, nothing about the room seemed familiar. The art on the wall was grossly out of her budget and the bedsheets were gray, Beth stuck with florals. 

She peeked under the blanket, bracing herself for what she already knew, they had fallen back into old habits. The second drink was a mistake, not that she needed liquid courage when it came to Rio.

Beth let the memories flood over her. His hands on her breasts, the way she placed feathered kisses on each of the wounds. 

_"Lung" a single kiss._

_"Spleen" another._

_Rio tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, brushing his thumb over her cheek as he pulled away._

_"The third one, where was it?" She asked, softly, wanting to believe that it would reverse any damage she had done._

_"Shoulder". And sure enough, a scar was there. Beth grinded against him, a sound coming from the back of his throat._

_Rio didn't want her to apologize, it was over now. He told her to be a boss bitch and own up to it and she had, that's who she was now and it had gotten her through a lot in the last four months. Her new attitude made her want to stuff Judith in the treehouse, what can she say? Old habits die hard._

Beth turned around in his arms, he quickly readjusted, holding her closely to his chest. 

Had she imagined what a relationship would be like with Rio? _Yes._

Did she ever think it would be possible? _No._

She couldn't help herself, not that she tried to, reaching up to feel his scruff under her fingertips. "Sleep, mama" he mumbled, eyes still closed. 

"I have to work".

Beth hadn't planned on staying out all night, but she got a little preoccupied. Dean probably figured she was out with PTA moms, drinking chardonnay until they passed out to sex in the city reruns. 

Rio's hand moved to her hip, "you kept it".

"Someone liked it".

He hummed, "I was dead".

Beth wasn't used to this, actually sharing an inkling about how they felt about each other, but maybe the loft incident could've been avoided if they had. Who was she kidding? Neither of them wanted to completely give up power, that didn't mean she wouldn't hand over a bit. "Doesn't mean I didn't think about you".

_It wasn't like Beth counted down the days until they could have sex again. She was quitting, it was part of Dean's ultimatum and she wasn't going to lose her kids again. But then Rio was kissing her with such urgency, bumping her face with his nose and Beth didn't want it to end._

_She raised her hips, watching Rio slide her panties down her legs. "Hold up, ma, that's the cutest gang tatt"._

_"It's not, stop it" she swat at his hand._

_He started to trace the tattoo. It was a chinese symbol, it was a generic one from the book meaning love or prosperity. They got slightly buzzed during spring break and Ruby chickened out after Beth was already on the table. Dean hated it and even though she loved it, she planned on getting it removed once she saved enough for the procedure._

_"Nah, that's definitely one, ain't no one messin with the boss bitch now"._

_"Rio...s- stop" she giggled, it started to tickle._

_He settled back between her legs, his mouth hovering over her cunt. "I'm getting it removed"._

_"Don't, I like it"._

_Beth didn't have time to ask why, because his tongue swiped over her folds and the rest was history._

He offered to drop her off at work, knowing that the girls were going to swing by later that night to start on the next batch. What Beth didn't expect was for Rio to stick around, charming Lucy just enough so she wouldn't tattle to Dorothy. 

"She in on it?" He asked, following Beth to the backroom.

"Not really, she did the design and thinks it's for a fundraiser".

Rio took the gun from the waistband of his pants, it was a plain black glock, not the flashy golden one Beth left with Turner. Of course he hadn't gotten it back, Turner would've been an idiot to hand a crime boss his weapon of choice, not that keeping it away prevented Rio from handling the situation. 

He sat on a lone stool, eyes watching her every step. "I'm not doing the cash now, I have a father's day project I have to start on".

"I know, jus' watching".

Beth smiled, grabbing a box of fishing lures and plastic fish. The customer called in months ahead to ensure it was completed before the last minute rush. She already printed out the father and son photo, adding it into a wooden frame as requested. Rio followed her to her desk, pulling up a spare chair. "Are you going to sit here for eight hours? I can call when we're starting".

"Ain't got nothin, so fishin?".

"Do you fish?".

Rio chuckled "nah, not so much". He picked up a goldfish from the pile, placing it on the upper right corner of the frame. 

Beth grabbed the hot glue gun, dabbing a little under the fish before pressing it down where he had it. She hoped Rio knew he wasn't being paid for this.

Eventually he got bored, deciding to make quick work of reorganizing their greeting card shelves. Lucy left her desk, in awe, seeing Rio read a few before placing them in the correct section. Customers had a tendency of putting them back whenever they pleased.

"You're lucky, my boyfriend stays at home playing video games".

"He's not…, it's complicated". Beth couldn't exactly tell Lucy that Rio was her former crime boss and ex-lover (would he still be considered that since she woke up in his arms?) Or that she almost killed him and was currently waiting on him to return the favor.

Rio breathed a laugh, looking at their selection of gag gifts and no matter how out of place he was in the shop, she was glad he stuck around. 

___________________________________

It was a little after six when Beth finally got Lucy to go home to her birds. She knew Ruby and Annie were probably freezing their asses off outside, for some reason they refused to wait in the car for her all clear and would rather risk pneumonia. 

"About time" Annie griped, "it's colder than a polar bear's titties out there".

Ruby froze in the doorway, her eyes falling to the gun behind Rio. "B..".

"I..uh, I told him".

Rio had connections they didn't have, it would only be beneficial in the long run and if he needed cash, he wouldn't do anything impulsive. Beth made the decision for the group and hoped they wouldn't be too upset about it. What they didn't know was Rio burned several bridges while working as an informant.

She could tell that the girls were unsure about Rio learning their process, that deep down they felt he'd get rid of them the second he learned how they did it. His eyes were glued to Beth's for the majority of the steps, which didn't go unnoticed. 

"You two need to be alone?" Annie stopped pouring the mix into the trays.

Ruby snorted, shaking her head as she dumped more cash into the kiddie pool.

___________________________________

He looked over the cash once it was finished, they knew he was grading them as they worked so why not get his professional opinion. The cash was great, it looked legit and it already passed the verifier, the perk to having JT on their side. "Looks good, Elizabeth...ladies".

Beth explained the rest of the process and how she took the cash home, threw it in the dryer with some scrabble tiles, quickly adding on that he couldn't see those steps because Dean was at the house. 

"The mover will be by on Wednesday to get the cash, he'll wash it and drop it off on Saturday".

"Mover?".

"It's a long story, are you in?".

Rio nodded, agreeing to follow their rules on one condition, they let him sit in on the drop. Beth was a little nervous about that, the mover had taken fifty percent once it was all said and done, although that was way better than being screwed out of it all.

_____________________________________

He wanted to see what wholesome people she had washing their cash, but didn't expect a burly man wearing plaid and cargo shorts.

Rio handed Beth the bag and it appeared too light, so he interjected and asked where the rest of the cash was. It wasn't meant to step on Beth's toes, he was still a boss and if someone fucked with his money they'd have to answer to him, it wasn't something he could turn off. 

"It's fifty-fifty, mind your own damn business".

Annie and Ruby looked between the two, paper porcupine was not built to withstand a fight and Beth didn't need to be yelled at when there was a casualty. "Rio, don't".

"Nah, he doin half the shit? Doin as much as you did for fifty?".

Beth shook her head, she worked her ass off to be treated like an equal and earn the right to be Rio's partner. He had a point, it was their business and all three of them had put blood, sweat and tears into making it what it was, some random guy wasn't going to hustle them. "You got this, mama".

Rio sat back down. Beth took a deep breath, stepping back up to the guy. "Go out to your car and give our forty percent, the deal was ten".

"You can't change your mind now, bitch".

"You're not special, I don't need you. There are hundreds of other people who will do better for less, now hand over the cash".

Ruby remembered the night Beth recited those exact words. She called after Rio showed up to her house, holding her at gunpoint and she refused to back down. The entire time Rio was gone she kept asking "what would he do?" and each time they would remind her that she wasn't Rio, but maybe she learned too much from him.

The man walked out and returned twelve minutes later with the other duffle bag, dropping it on the counter for Beth to count their cut. "Ten percent, we can up it to twelve and a half next drop, deal?".

"Deal, boss" the mover left out the front, giving one last glare in Rio's direction. Rio was unfazed by the whole ordeal, sometimes people needed to be put in their place. He wasn't the biggest, but he had gotten the upper hand on Dean, so this guy probably stood no chance either.

"That's my girl".

" _My girl?"_ Annie mouthed.

Beth bat her eyelashes and Rio's brow popped, they really could build an empire from scratch. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for reading & I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr xstrawmari
> 
> Who's ready for "lung, spleen and shoulder" tomorrow?! Not me!


End file.
